Monday, June 4, 2007

My husband is not into sweets but he tells everybody about the cakes, cookies and other stuff I make. It’s funny because I don’t even know more than half of those people. :)

When I started going to his dentist, the receptionists who work there kept asking me about my recipes, sweets, etc.
“Joao says they’re wonderful” – said one of the girls. “But he won’t even try them”, I replied. That was even funnier – how is he supposed to know if the sweets are good?

To clear that out, I baked these cookies and took them to the doctor’s office – maybe now the girls will believe my husband again. :)

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF.
Process all the ingredients in a food processor until a soft dough forms – my processor is tiny so I made this by hand.
Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls, place on baking trays lined with nonstick baking paper and flatten slightly.*
Bake for 5-7 minutes or until the bases are lightly cooked – the first batch was too soft so I baked the remaining cookies for 10 minutes.
Cool on trays.
Sandwich the cookies with chocolate ganache – I used Nutella. They’re really delicate, so be careful when spreading the filling.

* the cookies on the book were really flat – maybe I should have used less dough in each ball.

Patricia, those coookies look yummy. Nutella is probably as common here (Sydney) as vegemite (which is another story). As a kid in Singapore, I used to eat nutella from small disposable containers. They don't sell those anymore. I was so amazed when I was in Italy and saw this VERY HUGE nutella jar. I wanted to bring it home but I didn't have space in my luggage.

These look like macarons, but without the fussy recipe or funky colors. Maybe next time your husband visits that office, the girls will talk up the cookies and tempt him to try one from the next batch you make. Too funny, Patricia. :D

One day a few months ago, Nutella appeared on the shelf in the market in our small village! Wow -- that was an exciting day! And since then I have been collecting recipes that use Nutella. These cookies look great.